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Writing an effective resume

Time was, the weight and color of your resume paper, and font style you picked to print each of those ever-so-important life-changing facts with, were paramount in setting your job aspirations apart from all those others.' Some expert sources even recommended sending legal-size resumes, in brightly-colored envelopes, just to heighten the eye-catching quotient. No longer.

Radical change has been brought to the job-seeking world with the advent of the Internet. Although this may seem to limit your creativity and individuality in creating the unique document you want your potential employer to eyeball, it also has the effect of leveling the playing field. Style-wise, at least, if you carefully Spell-Check and visually proof your writing, you can approach the level of quality promised by pricey resume-mills.

Content, however, is another question. On some job-search sites, you may not even want to include your name and contact information - once sacrosanct, basic foundation of a resume or Curriculum Vitae - knowing that the information will be flowing unhindered into cyberspace. Instead, there is usually a choice to make your contact information Private, Public, or something in-between, depending on the job-search site and how employers are funneled to your eagerly waiting account.

As always, however, action words, words of power and specific technical terms within your desired field of employ are important to include at every turn. Programs that can pick up these terms and increase your priority-standing in the field of candidates, as well as the sharp eyes of the HR Department, need to be kept in the forefront of your mind. "Organized, Developed, Increased, Built, Led, Designed, and Generated" are examples of some of these action-oriented words that can take you a lot further than "Completed, Did, or Made." As the old saw goes, you have to Toot Your Own Horn.

The objective of a CV or resume is to get you invited into the Lion's Den...that is, the Interview Room. Very few hires are made as a result of the resume alone. So, keeping that goal in mind, generate every accomplishment you can think of that's germane to your potential job, and couch it in the terms most likely to excite the interest of the person with the power to hire you. This may very well not be the same person who wrote the job listing you may be responding to, and it's always a good idea to check that wording, as well, and make sure you're including as many of the desired qualifications


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Writing an effective resume

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